Tuesday, January 21, 2014

The Health Consequences of
Smoking-50 Years of Progress: A Report of the Surgeon General was
released on Jan. 17, a half century after the historic 1964 Surgeon General's
report that concluded that cigarette smoking causes lung cancer. Since that
time, smoking has been identified as a cause of serious diseases of nearly all
the body's organs.

Today, scientists add diabetes,
colorectal and liver cancer, rheumatoid arthritis, erectile dysfunction,
age-related macular degeneration, and other conditions to the list of diseases
that cigarette smoking causes. In addition, the report concludes that
secondhand smoke exposure is now known to cause strokes in nonsmokers.

Wednesday, January 15, 2014

Isocyanates (eye-so-sigh-a-nates)
are chemicals that can cause asthma and cancer, irritate the skin, eyes, nose
and throat, and even cause death. It is important for medical providers
to know the health risks associated with isocyanates and be aware that patients
who work in certain industries are in danger of being exposed. The risks
are so well documented that the Occupational Safety and Health Administration
(OSHA) has announced an emphasis program to protect workers from exposure to
isocyanates.

When dealing with a patient,
medical providers should consider that patient's occupation and work
environment. Isocyanates are powerful irritants to the eyes, gastrointestinal,
and respiratory tracts. Isocyanates can sensitize a patient through skin
contact which means a patient could be subject to a severe asthma attack if
they come into contact again (death from severe asthma in some sensitized
subjects has been reported). Isocyanates cannot easily be washed off skin
or clothing because they are not water soluble. OSHA is hoping that by
focusing on this problem it will raise physician awareness of the risk, reduce
employee exposure, and lessen the overall negative health effects associated
with isocyanates.

For more on the National Emphasis
Program, visit: http://go.usa.gov/Zp7h (See appendix C for
a patient questionnaire.)

Tuesday, January 14, 2014

Maine youth are making healthier
choices, including smoking and drinking less, but are increasingly struggling
with their emotional wellbeing.

Those findings and other insights
directly from tens of thousands of Maine students about their health and habits
are detailed in the newly released results of the 2013 Maine Integrated Youth
Health Survey (MIYHS).

The survey, which has been given every odd year since 2009, is a collaboration of the Maine Department of Education and the Maine Center for Disease Control and Substance Abuse and Mental Health Services in the Department of Health and Human Services. The results inform prevention and program planning, as well as future funding proposals.

While students largely feel more supported by parents, teachers and their communities, they also admit they are increasingly struggling with feelings of sadness and hopelessness. At the high school level, 14.6 percent of students said they have seriously considered attempting suicide, and 16.8 percent of seventh and eighth graders said the same.

In October, Maine was one of six
states awarded a 3-year federal Substance Abuse Mental Health Services
Administration grant, which will expand statewide education, training, and
outreach services and offers new screening, assessment, treatment and follow-up
services for youth to age 24 at risk for suicide.

The Maine Suicide Prevention
Program is collaborative initiative among: the Departments of Health and Human
Services, Education, Corrections, Labor, Public Safety, and Veteran's Affairs;
advocacy organizations like American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, NAMI
ME; crisis agencies; parents, survivors and young adults.

Although suicide is a rare event,
we must encourage and support our youth and young adults who may be feeling
overwhelmed and hopeless to reach out to a trusted adult who will provide
support and connect them to helping resources, such as:

Statewide Crisis
Hotline:
1-888-568-1112 - connects callers to crisis service provider in area from
which they are calling. This is for ALL individuals in crisis to provide
immediate, local assistance in a crisis situation. The crisis worker will
ask what is going on and ask about everyone's safety to help figure out
what kind of help is need. If you believe a person might be in danger of
suicide, call the statewide crisis hotline or the police (911) to keep the
person safe if needed.

Monday, January 13, 2014

The deer tick can remain active in its adult stage from fall to spring as long as the temperature is above freezing. The tick will remain alive, but inactive when temperatures are below 40 degrees Fahrenheit.

Maine CDC saw increased numbers of tickborne disease reports in 2013, including multiple cases with onset of symptoms as late as December and the first documented case of Powassan encephalitis in the state since 2004. Providers should continue to consider tick borne illnesses, even during the winter months.

Friday, January 10, 2014

Before the development of the Pap test, cervical cancer was one of the most common causes of cancer death for American women. As an available, accepted, and cost-effective screening test, the Pap test can detect cervical cancer early when treatment is most effective. If women receive regular screenings, the Pap test can detect cervical cell changes before they become cancerous.

Help is available for qualifying women age 40 and older who are in need of breast or cervical screening tests. The Maine CDC Cancer Prevention and Control programs can provide information about cancer screening tests as well as resources for free cancer screenings.

Thursday, January 9, 2014

Influenza activity in Maine is widespread with laboratory
confirmed influenza reported in all counties. Influenza A/pH1N1, Influenza
A/H3, and influenza B have been confirmed in Maine indicating all three strains
are circulating. Maine CDC has followed up on six outbreaks of influenza
as of Tuesday, January 7th. Influenza vaccination is still strongly encouraged
and is widely available, especially to protect those persons at risk of severe
disease. The vaccine appears to be a good match to the circulating
strains this year, and it is not too late to get vaccinated.

For more information, see the
Health Alert from Dec. 26 about Early Reports of pH1N1-Associated
Illnesses for the 2013-14 Influenza Season at http://go.usa.gov/Zp6w and the Health Alert
from Jan. 8 about Widespread Influenza Activity in Maine at http://go.usa.gov/ZdAj

In addition, people and
clinicians may review or anonymously report flu at www.flunearyou.org

Prevention

Take everyday preventive measures
against the flu:

Wash your hands
frequently with soap and water, but especially after coughing and
sneezing. Alcohol-based hand gels can also be used.

Avoid touching your
nose, mouth, and eyes. Germs can spread this way.

Consult your health care provider about
getting a pneumococcal vaccine for anyone who is younger than 5, between
ages 5 and 64 with high risk conditions, or age 65 and older.

Avoid contact with
sick people. If you are at very high risk for complications, you may
want to avoid large crowds.

Vaccination

There is still time to get vaccinated against the flu for this season. Full
immunity develops 7-10 days after the vaccine is administered. To find
locations where vaccine is available, contact your health care provider or
pharmacy, call 211, or visit www.211maine.org or www.flu.gov

Maine CDC recommends that Health
Care Providers continue vaccinating to protect against influenza this
year. To ensure that vaccine is available for all Maine people who are
seeking it, please use the following as guidelines:

Health Care Providers should use
state-supplied vaccine for patients in the following circumstances:

The patient is a child ages 6
months through 18 years;

The patient is pregnant or the
partner of a pregnant patient;

The patient's insurance does not
cover vaccinations;

The patient is uninsured.

Health Care Providers may use state-supplied
vaccine for other patients only if:

The Health Care Provider has
already vaccinated all eligible patients listed above and has excess
state-supplied vaccine; and

Privately purchased vaccine is
not available.

Please remember that providers
may not charge for state-supplied vaccine. It is reasonable and allowable to
charge an administration fee for administration of state-supplied vaccine in
some circumstances provided that:

MaineCare-eligible children are
not charged an out of pocket administration fee;

Administration fees do not exceed
the regional Medicare maximum; and

No one is denied vaccine because
of their inability to pay an administration fee.

Treatment

If you have the flu:

Stay home if you
are sick, until you are fever-free for a full 24 hours without taking
fever-reducing medicine.

Cough and sneeze
into your elbow or into a tissue. Throw the tissue away.

Although most
people can stay home to recover without seeing a health care provider, it
is possible for healthy people to develop severe illness from the flu.
Anyone with the flu should seek medical attention for:

Wednesday, January 8, 2014

January is National Birth Defects Prevention Month and this year’s theme is “Birth defects are common, costly, and critical.”

Every 4.5 minutes, a baby is born in the U.S. with a birth defect. Major birth defects are conditions present at birth that cause structural changes in one or more parts of the body. They can have a serious adverse effect on health, development, or functional ability. Babies who survive and live with birth defects are at increased risk for developing many lifelong physical, cognitive, and social challenges. Medical care and support services only scrape the surface of the financial and emotional impact of living with birth defects.

Not all birth defects can be prevented, but a woman can increase her own chances of having a healthy baby by managing health conditions and adopting healthy behaviors before becoming pregnant. This is important because many birth defects happen very early during pregnancy, sometimes before a woman even knows she is pregnant. Here are some steps a woman can take to get ready for a healthy pregnancy:

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